


Chronicles Of Solitude, And The End Thereof

by The Blue Escapist (theblueescapist)



Category: Yami No Matsuei
Genre: Gore, M/M, mental issues, rape mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 20:30:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theblueescapist/pseuds/The%20Blue%20Escapist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsuzuki tries to hold on till he can go back to Hisoka.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chronicles Of Solitude, And The End Thereof

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CractasticDispatches](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CractasticDispatches/gifts).



> While this is primarily based on the later volumes of the manga, it assumes that the Kyoto arc has left more permanent scars on Tsuzuki's mind. Please take care if you read! I'd hate to inadvertently cause someone discomfort.

### Day 0

“You sure you’re not coming with us?” Kurikara asks.

Tsuzuki considers it again, his hand still before he continues caressing Hisoka’s singed hair. “I’m sure”, he says. Hisoka’s face is still drawn tightly, but it’s already lost the deathly pallor that had so terrified Tsuzuki.

“Listen, the sooner we leave, the sooner he can heal better—”

“ I know that,” Tsuzuki says. He smoothens the wrinkles on Hisoka’s brow. “You’ll take care of him,” he says.

“I don’t take orders from you,” Kurikara says, an edge in his voice that makes Tsuzuki turn to glare at him, “but yes, I’ll make sure he stays safe. After all, I have a vested interest in his survival,” he smirks, and Tsuzuki stands up.

“If anything happens to him…”

“Don’t make threats you can’t fulfill, human!” Kurikara says, his voice low. “Let’s just agree that I’ll protect yours and you’ll protect mine.”

Tsuzuki is suddenly acutely reminded of the noise in the distance. For a moment, Suzaku’s high-pitched battle cry is drowned in his ears by Souryuu’s low roar. He stares hard at Kurikara, then nods. He bends over Hisoka and kisses his cheek, his lips tingling as he murmurs soft words.

“All right. Take him away,” Tsuzuki says. He straightens his back and walks out of the ruins. He bites through his tongue, but he does not look back.

 

 

### Day 1

They lose Byakko the morning after. Suzaku gets to him in time to deflect the killing blow, but his wounds are too severe for him to keep fighting. Tsuzuki orders Kotarou to fly Byakko back to the gate. He wants to believe that Byakko will rejoin them soon, that Tenko and Kouchin will be able to heal him.

Tsuzuki has no time to dwell upon Byakko, though: losing one of their best fighters throws their rhythm off and for the next several hours they keep losing ground. Then Tsuzuki sees Souryuu get nicked on his left arm.

Things get a little hazy in Tsuzuki’s memory after that, but they manage to drive their enemies off for the day and even regain a couple of key strongholds. If Tsuzuki notices his comrades giving him a wide berth, it doesn’t bother him.

He’s not going to let anyone pass. No one is going after Hisoka and Kurikara, not on his watch.

 

 

### Day 6

Five days later, after a late night skirmish that’s left them all on edge, Tsuzuki finally acknowledges they need a better strategy.

“We can’t go on like this!” Suzaku is saying. “Our supplies aren’t going to last much longer. We need to cut through their lines at once and—”

“And how exactly do you suggest we do that?” Souryuu bellows. “We’re vastly outnumbered! We need to defend the last gate! We can’t just charge blindly—”

“A bait,” Tsuzuki hears himself say. “Something they cannot pass up. Somebody they hate enough they’ll break their formation to kill.”

Silence falls for a second, then they all start yelling at him.

“No way, Tsuzuki!”  
“That’s your dumbest idea ever!”  
“We’re not going to let you offer yourself up as a sacrifice!”

“If we need a bait, it’s not going to be you, Tsuzuki” Touda says. It’s the most he’s said in such a long while that it shuts everyone up.

Tsuzuki feels his mouth thinning. “Touda, I’m the obvious choice—”

“You aren’t, actually,” Souryuu says. “They might hate you for this war, Tsuzuki, but Touda? Touda’s been on the wrong side of _both_ wars. Touda’s perfect for this!”

“Aren’t I just,” Touda says.

 

 

### Day 7

Nobody’s calling it a dumb plan the next day, when Touda is busy burning down the remains of those who wanted him dead.  
Kijin actually compliments Tsuzuki on his tactical skills, then freezes and stammers: “I did not mean…”

Tsuzuki shakes his head, fails to hide his grimace. He goes back to carefully rebandaging Byakko, his neck stiff.

“Hey, Tsuzuki,” Byakko says. “You okay?”

“Fine, fine,” Tsuzuki replies, but then he stares down at the murky tide that’s lapping ever higher at his ankles, and says: “Sorry, it’s this water. It’s making me nervous.”

“What water are you talking about?” Kijin says.

Tsuzuki freezes. “What do you mean, what water? We’re standing in it, we must leave before it drowns us!”

“Tsuzuki, look at me,” Byakko says, taking Tsuzuki’s face in his hands and forcing him to meet his gaze. “We’re on the High Mountains. It’s a two-day walk to the closest river. There is no water. It _can’t harm us_.”

Tsuzuki takes a deep breath, then grits his teeth and looks around.

Byakko is lying. There’s water all around them, thick and rising, as red as the moon in Nagasaki, and just as he’s watching its surface breaks in a thousand ripples, a thousand rotting smiles all for him, all for him…

“Tsuzuki!” Suzaku cries, smacking him on the back of his head. “What are you doing, dummy? Night’s falling, we need to take shelter! Come on, come on!”

Tsuzuki blinks. A gust of wind brings the acrid smell of sizzling flesh, but his feet stay dry.

 

 

### Day 8

They decide to split in two parties. With the bulk of their enemies taken care of, they can afford to leave Kijin and a very disgruntled Byakko behind with Kojirou to protect the gate and have Kotarou patrol the area for stray attackers.

Before setting off, Tsuzuki takes Kojirou aside.

“Kojirou,” Tsuzuki says. “Yesterday, there were members of the Tengu clan on the battlefield. Others might still come here and try to go after Hisoka. I just want you to know that I would never expect you to—”

“Guarding the gate is my chosen duty,” Kojirou says, waving his hand dismissively. “No matter who or what the threat is. My clan vowed to stay neutral: if somebody has disobeyed, I’ll be glad to strike them down. Besides, I owe Kurosaki-dono my life.”

“I don’t want you to have on your hands the blood of your own brothers, Kojirou!” Tsuzuki cries.

“You are too kind for this war,” Kojirou says. “And you are not well without Kurosaki-dono. Do not think of me; think of how to get back to him.”

“I’m trying, Kojirou” Tsuzuki says. “Believe me, I’m trying.”

 

 

### Day 11

The many scuffles they’ve won on their path southward have made them complacent. When the Palace appears on the horizon, they’re all taken aback by the sheer number of soldiers surrounding it.

“What’s the Imperial army doing here? It was supposed to be still in the west!” Suzaku cries.

“Never mind why,” Rikugou says. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way I can stop the time of so many people.”

“No, you’re right,” Tsuzuki says. “Let’s find another way to sneak in.”

They toss ideas back and forth for several hours, but come to no conclusion.

Just before sunset, however, Souryuu says: “Everybody hide! Something’s coming!”

There is indeed a shadow in the previously clear sky and it’s moving directly towards them.

“How did they spot us, anyway? We’re too far!” Tsuzuki cries as he takes cover.

“A fortune teller, probably”, old Genbu says. “Lots of them in Koutei-dono’s service.”

“Great! What is it anyway, a dragon? All white like that?”

“No,” Souryuu says. “It’s a messenger.”

 

 

### Day 12

“Touda,” Tsuzuki whispers the fifth time he crashes into Touda’s back. “Do you think you could maybe stand a little bit further?”

“No,” Touda says. “You may have decided to walk into a trap, but you’re not walking into it first.”

“It’s a summons from the new Koutei-dono, Touda, not a planned execution!”

“Aren’t you the one who said it was odd?”

“Well, yes, but I was talking about this Koutei-dono!” Tsuzuki says. “I simply don’t understand how they could decide to nominate a new one when they even started a war because they couldn’t stand that the previous one…died.”

“That Kurikara killed him, you mean.”

“Shhh, Touda! Don’t say his name, they could hear you!”

“They’re already pointing their swords at us, Tsuzuki.”

“That’s called guard duty, they don’t mean anything by it.”

“…right.”

“Will you two shut up already?” Souryuu says behind his teeth.

“Yes, yes, of course” Tsuzuki says, shifting away from him just as gongs are banged three times.

A figure clad in white slowly advances and then sits on the throne. Tsuzuki strains his senses, but he can feel no power coming from it.

“Human,” Koutei-dono says, and it’s a man’s voice, lacking in strength, in charisma.

Tsuzuki feels sudden, violent anger overcome him. This is not the person who will bring Gensoukai back to its splendor. This is just a puppet, born to be manipulated, and thousands of people have died for nothing.

“This human is under my protection, Koutei-dono” Souryuu says, stepping forward. “I take full responsibility for his actions. Anything you want to discuss with him, you’ll discuss with me instead.”

“No, Souryuu!” Tsuzuki cries, but Suzaku crushes his foot under her talon. “Let him handle it, Tsuzuki!” Suzaku says.

“But what is he doing, exactly?” Tsuzuki asks softly.

“He’s going to negotiate the terms of a peace treaty,” Rikugou says. “And then I think he’s going to resign.”

 

 

### Day 13

“All considered, that went rather well,” Suzaku says.

Tsuzuki refills his cup and downs it in one shot. The night sky in Gensoukai is incredible. Tsuzuki is very fond of one far-away star that shines a familiar gold.

“I mean, the new Koutei-dono could have easily ordered us all killed. We would have fought, of course, but well…”

The cup is so tiresome. The bottle, instead, is pleasantly cool against his tongue.

“Tsuzuki,” Suzaku says, crouching down on the floor next to him. “Are you upset? I mean, I can see you’re upset, but it’s not going to be so bad! A hundred years may seem a lot now, but you won’t be alone, you get to stay here, with us! Even though you won’t be able to see Hisoka, you’re both shinigami, time is…”

Sake splashes everywhere as a cloud of powdered glass slowly settles down around them.

Suzaku has jumped back and Tsuzuki hates himself for putting that hurt look on her face. “Suzaku, I’m sorry,” Tsuzuki says. “I just… I need some time.” He reaches out and places a hand on her forearm, willing her to understand.

“Oh, Tsuzuki,” Suzaku says, and she draws him against her chest and says: “I’ve got you, I’ve got you…”

It’s the wrong voice, the wrong arms, but Tsuzuki is so tired. He does not protest.

 

 

### Day -36524

Koutei-dono’s men show Tsuzuki to his assigned spot, give him his instructions and then retreat to their respective posts.

They do not look nor speak to him again.

The task is simple enough: brick, goop, level, repeat. Tsuzuki doesn’t know why this job in particular was picked for him, but he finds it soothing, especially once he gets a good rhythm going.

He does wish the goop weren’t such a looming shade of black.

 

 

### Day -36501

Tsuzuki’s putting the finishing touches on his latest course of bricks when he hears a commotion. He turns and sees the guards struggling to hold back several angry people.

“Monster!”  
“Assassin!”

Tsuzuki tunes them out. If anything, he’s surprised it took them this long to find out where he was working off his debt.

 

 

### Day -36486

It’s not so easy to ignore them when he gets to repair the outer wall: the proximity is enough to make Tsuzuki even warier. By now they’ve learnt the guards will only intervene if they try to physically get close to him: from afar, slights, pellets, and the like are fair game.

Today it’s stones. It gets bad enough that the guards decide to cut his work day short.

For once, Tsuzuki is glad his body heals fast. He changes out of his torn working clothes and nobody notices anything amiss when he gets to their shared quarters that evening.

 

 

### Day -36434

The new regular is being particularly creative.

While the rest of the crowd is by now content with general expletives and harmful pranks, this man has done his homework.

He’s taken to constantly throwing small bones at him, still covered with torn flesh and pulsing blood. Tsuzuki has no idea how the man understood the smell makes him want to puke.

The man’s words, however, cut even deeper. Tsuzuki can take it when he’s the target, it’s nothing he hasn’t heard before, but he has yet to get used to _Hisoka_ being the target. It’s been steadily getting worse for a couple of hours, when the man says:

“They say you raped him, demon. They say that’s why he went crazy and freed Kurikara. Tell me, how tight is his ass? Does he cry prettily when you hurt him? I bet he does. I bet that’s why Kurikara became his shiki, he wanted to get a piece of that—”

It’s the screams that stay Tsuzuki’s hand before he can actually throw the brick at the man. The crowd has gone from jeering to terrified in a blink of an eye and the noise is such that it attracts the guards’ attention.

They are on him at once, subduing him with kicks and punches. The last thing Tsuzuki sees before he loses consciousness is the man’s face, smiling.

 

 

### Day -36430

The others get him out of solitary confinement four days later.

They apologize for not managing to get him released sooner. They apologize for not noticing he was being harassed. They apologize for not protecting him better.

Before they can apologize for the sky being blue, Tsuzuki says:

“Leave me alone.”

“Please, Tsuzuki,” Suzaku says, “I’m sure you’d feel better if only you talked to us—”

“That wasn’t a request, it was an order! Leave me alone!” Tsuzuki shouts.

Touda gets everybody out, then stays right outside the door. Tsuzuki would call him on it, except that now that nobody’s looking, Tsuzuki can finally do what he has been wanting to do, but couldn’t, in prison. He’s not entirely sure it’s safe, but he knows that he cannot wait any longer.

The spell comes easily to his lips. Focusing is harder in his condition, but his desire is such that he overcomes the difficulty and succeeds in pushing his magic through all the distance, into another world.

The image that appears in the palm of his hand is small and blurry, but finally, finally, Tsuzuki can see Hisoka.

He feels like he can breathe again, like he’s held his breath all along without realizing. All the tension drains out of him and he basks in the sheer joy of watching Hisoka being alive, being healthy.

He’s still not used to seeing Hisoka so grown up, to witnessing the changes that taking Kurikara into his body brought about. But his features are familiar even after aging and the spark in his eyes as he spars with Kurikara is ever the same.

Tsuzuki feels his hand trembling, his power reaching his limit. He holds on as long as he can, but eventually the image flickers and fades. It’s a miracle that it lasted even that long: the spell that he cast on Hisoka the day Kurikara spirited him away was one of protection. But he’s glad he was able to convert it to a monitoring one, even for such a short time.

Tsuzuki gives into his exhaustion and lets sleep claim him.

 

 

### Day -36429

When Tsuzuki gets back to work, he's directed to a secluded inner courtyard. It strikes him then that the location of his former posts was deliberate: opposite from where his shiki are assigned, close to civilians. The entire scene with the all-knowing-man and the guards was arranged.

Koutei-dono, or whoever is pulling Koutei-dono's strings, has been trying to get rid of him.

It should anger him more than it really does, but it doesn't change the fact that Souryuu agreed in his name to rebuild what they destroyed.

It's high time to roll up his sleeves.

 

 

### Day -36425

Tsuzuki has finally found his groove.

He had been diligent before, his work flawless, but only now is he actually productive. He puts brick after brick after brick and at the end of the day he can gaze up at his handiwork and be proud of his daily accomplishment.

Over dinner, though, when the others try to get him to talk about his day, Tsuzuki always finds he has nothing much to say.

 

### Day -36392

It's the silence that gets to him in the end.

Where before he had to disconnect his mind from his ears in order to be able to get through the hours, now he's constantly straining to hear something, anything.

There are no crickets here, no birds. After the guards depart, the only sounds he hears until they return are the ones he himself makes while working.

Sometimes, when it gets too unbearable, Tsuzuki has taken to hum to himself. The echo of his voice is so eery, though, so wrong, that he can never keep it up.

He's not surprised when the first brick starts whispering malice at him.

Tsuzuki realizes he should probably talk to someone about this. Byakko would listen, Suzaku would definitely have him moved elsewhere. But they all have their own plates full already and he's their master. He's supposed to be strong for them, not vice versa.

A mere wall of chatty bricks isn’t going to stop him.

 

### Day -36386

The snake around his neck is hissing poison in Tsuzuki’s ear, distracting him so badly that he screams in surprise when he bends down to take the next brick and sees Touda standing against a column, watching him.

“Touda!” Tsuzuki cries. “You’re skipping work, they’ll punish you! Why are you even here? Did anything happen?”

“Nobody’s going to notice, Rikugou crafted an illusion of me,” Touda says. “Tsuzuki. What’s that around your neck?”

“Around…my neck?” Tsuzuki says. “Why are you asking? What do you think is around my neck?”

“I asked first,” Touda says. “Why aren’t you answering?”

“I have no time for your stupid questions,” Tsuzuki snarls, turning back towards his wall. “Unlike you, I have work to do!”

“It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” Touda says.

Tsuzuki freezes.

“You’ve been acting oddly for a while, did you think we wouldn’t notice? You’re slipping inside yourself again.”

Tsuzuki closes his eyes, tries hard to focus on Touda instead of the maggots chewing his arms.

“Tsuzuki,” Touda says. “Let me help you. Give me an order.”

“You want to help me,” Tsuzuki says, and his voice turns cold. “You want an order. Well, here’s your order, Touda: _build faster_.”

Touda is silent, then says: “So be it.”

 

### Day -36370

The evening Souryuu marches him outside despite his loud protests of fatigue, the last thing Tsuzuki expects is this.

“How…how did you do that? That’s an entire wing, how did you do that so fast?”

“I invented a loophole,” Souryuu says. “Then I wrote some letters. We aren’t totally without supporters, you know.”

“That’s fantastic, Souryuu!” Tsuzuki laughs. “If you keep this up, we’re going to finish in no time and can move on to the next one!”

“It’s good to see you smile again, Tsuzuki,” Souryuu says, smiling himself a little.

Tsuzuki hangs his head, his cheeks flaming. “I’m sorry I—”

“No,” Souryuu says. “It’s my fault. I should have realized this would be so hard on you.”

“You did the best you could, Souryuu. We’re all alive and well, after all.”

“Are you, really?” Souryuu asks, and it’s the concern evident in his usually stern eyes that makes Tsuzuki bold enough to say:

“How did you… How did you stand it? When Kurikara was in exile, I mean.”

“Ah,” Souryuu stiffens. Tsuzuki is convinced he isn’t going to answer when he says: “Our circumstances were very different. By the time Ryuu was exiled I hated him. It made everything easier.”

“So how are you doing it now?” Tsuzuki insists.

“I betrayed him in the name of a man I’ve never met, Tsuzuki,” Souryuu says. “He’s not going to forgive me for that. But your boy is waiting for you, Tsuzuki. Hang on for his sake, if not for yours or ours.”

Tsuzuki hopes he has enough strength to.

 

### Day -36159

“Congratulations on our first finished palace!”

They all clink glasses, then Suzaku declares: “And now it’s time for dancing! You too, Tsuzuki, you too!”

Tsuzuki laughs, then declines: “Why would I do that, when watching you is such a pleasure?”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Tsuzuki!” Suzaku winks at him.

They’ve learnt not to press him just as he’s learnt to handle himself better. Either because of their achievement or the excellent sake, Tsuzuki is feeling so well the voices seem to have retreated to a manageable volume.

Then the earth shakes.

“Everybody outside!” Souryuu shouts.

“I thought there were no earthquakes in Gensoukai!” Tsuzuki cries as soon as they are in the street.

“There are not,” old Genbu says and Tsuzuki is startled by how grave he sounds. He follows his gaze and sees.

“No,” Tsuzuki says, falling to his knees. “No!”

It had been stupid to think he would see Hisoka again.

 

### Day ???

Something has upset the wolves. Generally they take their time gnawing his insides, so that his bones can reform and they can crunch them again, but they’re devouring him in quick huge bites, a splash of red over the hard snow. One of them snaps his neck before they all take off.

His severed head rolls away, coming to a stop next to a rock. From his one eye he can see a long blue shape coming. It’s moving oddly, on two long sticks. Perhaps it’s some kind of snake and it will swallow him up whole. It always takes longer for him to regenerate when he’s being digested.

The shape is making weird sounds and coming at him, but then a vulture comes and attacks it. He doesn’t know how it ends because another vulture is pecking his eye off.

 

### Day ???

He wakes up in a room he doesn’t know.

There is a woman sleeping on a chair next to him and a man looking out one of the windows. He tries to move his arms and legs and finds out they are not restrained. If he’s quiet, he can get the scissors on the night stand and plant them in his throat before they realize he’s awake. He tries to slip his arm out of the sheets, but it’s so heavy it falls back on the mattress with a soft thud.

It does not wake the woman, but the man is turning and saying something loudly. Now the woman is up and talking too. The woman is not his sister, though, so he doesn’t listen. He closes his eyes again.

 

### Day ???

He’s running as fast as he can, but the grass is slippery and he keeps falling. The spiders will catch him and then they’ll string him up and bite him till he’s all swollen and then he’ll explode. Exploding hurts, so he keeps running and falling even though the spiders will catch him.

He’s running, he’s running, but then there is a man walking towards him and the man is not black like the grass and the spiders but he doesn’t know what the man is because he is glowing but he isn’t red like the worms.

The man has stopped and is holding his arms open towards him and the man is going to eat him but not explode him because the man is not a spider, so he’s running, he’s running, he’s running towards the man and away from the spiders but then the grass glows red and a worm eats him.

 

### Day ???

The branches he picked up are not long enough and he cannot entwine them properly. He needs to go back to the forest and get some more.

The forest has a new Guardian with pretty green eyes and hair the color of the sun. When he asks for passage, the Guardian says:  
“And why do you desire passage into the Dark Forest, little boy?”

“I need to get more branches for my crown of thorns, O Guardian,” he says.

“And why do you need a crown of thorns, little boy?” the Guardian says.

“Because I’m a sinner and I’m not bleeding enough, O Guardian,” he says.

“And why are you a sinner, little boy?” the Guardian says.

“Because I’m a demon and I killed many people, O Guardian,” he says.

“And why did you kill all those people, little boy?” the Guardian says.

“The previous Guardian has never asked this!” he cries, dismayed.

“Why did you kill all those people, little boy?” the Guardian says again, taking him by the arm.

“I…I don’t know! I can’t remember! Let me go!”

“You can’t remember because you’re not a little boy,” the Guardian says. “You killed all those people because of me. And you know this, Tsuzuki,” Hisoka says.

“No!” he says and tries to run, but the Guardian— _Hisoka Hisoka Hisoka_ —takes him into his arms and says:

“Shhh, Tsuzuki. I’ve got you, I’ve got you.”

 

* * *

 

Hisoka is sitting in a chair next to his bed, a book in his lap and a frown on his face that’s so verisimilar Tsuzuki is going to indulge in this dream a little longer.

“Tsuzuki,” Hisoka says, and Tsuzuki is impressed by his own ability to merge the voice of the Hisoka he knows with the body of the Hisoka he never will.

“Hi-so-ka,” Tsuzuki singsongs.

Hisoka closes his book and puts it on the night stand. Then he bends towards Tsuzuki, puts one hand over each of Tsuzuki’s cheeks and pulls.

“Aaahh!!!” Tsuzuki cries. “Hisoka!! What did you do that for?”

“You thought you were dreaming, I had to wake you up properly,” Hisoka says.

“Hisoka…” Tsuzuki says, a shiver going down his spine.

“Now you’re frightened because you think I might be real. But if I’m real, then I should not be here because there’s a price on my head and an even bigger price on Kurikara’s and dammit, you hate it when I read your mind.” Hisoka pauses. “Are you convinced or shall I go on?”

Tsuzuki stares at him, then grabs Hisoka’s arm and pulls.

“Tsuzuki, you’re crushing me!” Hisoka cries.

“I can’t tell,” Tsuzuki admits, burying his nose into Hisoka’s hair. “I can’t tell if you’re real or not, Hisoka. The worst thing is, I don’t care either way. I’ve missed you so much,” Tsuzuki says, his voice breaking. What a pathetic excuse for a man he’s become, how can Hisoka stand him? He should have done both of them a favor and just…

“Stop it, Tsuzuki!” Hisoka yells. “Stop it,” Hisoka says again, this time softly, kissing Tsuzuki’s eyelids free from tears. “It’s okay if you can’t tell, Tsuzuki. I’m not leaving you alone again. I can clear it up for you,” Hisoka says, and now he’s peppering all of Tsuzuki’s face with kisses, making it very hard for Tsuzuki to think at all.

What does it matter, anyway, if he cannot distinguish what’s real from his own fevered delusions?

Tsuzuki already has the only reality that matters to him.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always found it interesting that Matsushita-sensei spent so much time describing parasitic type shikigami if the only known example is supposed to be Terazuma. 
> 
> Considering that parasitic type shikigami do not necessarily need to follow their master's orders, it makes more sense to me that Kurikara would be this type. 
> 
> Since I've also always wanted Hisoka to have a grown-up body, the physical changes that come with having a parasitic type shikigami seemed to me like a neat way to kill two birds with one stone. :)


End file.
